The Dominion Mandate Series

Genesis 1:24-31. 24 And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds—livestock and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.” And it was so. 25 And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds and the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them. 28 And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” 29 And God said, “Behold, I have given you every plant yielding seed that is on the face of all the earth, and every tree with seed in its fruit. You shall have them for food. 30 And to every beast of the earth and to every bird of the heavens and to everything that creeps on the earth, everything that has the breath of life, I have given every green plant for food.” And it was so. 31 And God saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good. And there was evening and there was morning, the sixth day. (ESV)

In July 1969, Astronaut Neil Armstrong became the first human to walk on the surface of the moon. When he did so he wrote out and left these words on the lunar surface from Psalm 8:3-4: “When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, The moon and stars, which you have ordained, What is man that you are mindful of him, And the son of man that you visit him?. These verses answer our fundamental questions of Who are we? And Where have we come from? As we look at the vast heavens made larger by all that astronomers tell us, what is our place in the universe? The only true and satisfying answer is found in this revelation from God.

In Genesis 1:24–31, on the sixth and final day of physical creation, God forms the creatures that are to inhabit the dry land. In this activity: God creates the animal kingdom, which includes livestock, creeping things and wild animals; then, humans are formed. As the final object of God’s creation, humanity represents the culmination of creation. Recognizing how precious and valuable people are in the sight of God, we see that they are made in the image of God, male and female, with distinct but complementary roles. As vice-regents of the planet, they are charged to faithfully work. Their stewardship is a divinely commissioned Dominion mandate.

God charges His created beings to a specific Dominion Mandate. In Genesis 1:24–31 we see: 1) The Mandate (Genesis 1:24-26), 2) The Mission (Genesis 1:27-28) and finally, 3) The Means (Genesis 1:29-31).

God charges His created beings to a specific Dominion Mandate as seen through:

1) The Mandate (Genesis 1:24-26)

Genesis 1:24-26. 24 And God said, “Let the earth bring forth living creatures according to their kinds—livestock and creeping things and beasts of the earth according to their kinds.” And it was so. 25 And God made the beasts of the earth according to their kinds and the livestock according to their kinds, and everything that creeps on the ground according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. 26 Then God said, “Let us make man in our image, after our likeness. And let them have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over the livestock and over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”

On the third day, ‘the earth’ sprouted forth vegetation at God’s command. Now ‘the earth’ is to produce land animals from the direct command of God to ‘bring forth’ (jussive). Apparently, the earth is serving as the secondary cause in the generation of living creatures. These creatures are brought forth according to their kinds. This notation kills the idea of evolution. Animals do not evolve into humans. They reproduce “according to their kinds.” Animals produce animals not humans (Butler, J. G. (2008). Analytical Bible Expositor: Genesis (p. 16). LBC Publications.)

Here in Genesis 1:24, three categories of animals are listed. The first, “livestock/cattle”, (behemah), often describes large, four-footed, domesticated animals. Second, the expression ‘creeping things’ refers to small animals. And third, the term ‘beasts of the earth’ probably signifies wild animals, in contrast to the domesticated ones previously mentioned. This category would include dinosaurs like Behemoth (Job 40:15ff.). A tripartite classification of the animal kingdom is a common scriptural view (Gen. 7:14; Ps. 148:10). It is important to note that humanity never appears in any of these classifications. Humanity is not part of the animal world. (MacArthur, J. F., Jr. (2006). The MacArthur study Bible: New American Standard Bible. (Ge 1:24). Thomas Nelson Publishers.)